Computerized design, generation and simulation of meshing and contact of worm-gear drives with improved geometry

The worm and worm-gear tooth surfaces of existing design are in line contact at every instant and very sensitive to misalignment. Errors of alignment cause the shift of the bearing contact and transmission errors. The authors propose: (1) methods for comuterized simulation of meshing and contact of misaligned worm-gear drives of existing design; (2) methods of modification of geometry of worm-gear drives that enable to localize and stabilize the bearing contact and reduce the sensitivity of drives to misalignment; and (3) methods for computerized simulation of meshing and contact of worm-gear drives with modified geometry. Numerical examples that illustrate the developed theory are provided.